A Pleasant Story

Chapter Thirty-Five

Suspicions


Dustin arrived safely at college and as soon as he got his room set up he called Lainey. She squealed happily and said, “Where are you? I’m coming!”






Dustin gave her the address of his dorm, then went to the front to wait for her. He didn’t have to wait long; she came running down the street in only minutes.



Dustin went to meet her with a smile, but Lainey had other ideas. She leapt into his arms as the creepy annoying professor who rang the dorm doorbell constantly finally gave up and left.




And that was all it took. Their romance from the island was re-kindled immediately.



Lainey asked him how he was and if he’d decided what to major in.

He said, “I haven’t decided yet, so the “undecided” major seems right for now.”

“Weren’t you interested in oceanography?” Lainey asked.



“Yeah, I really did like it, but here in the desert their biology programs are more geared toward other species. I have a botany class later, so maybe that will be fun, learning about flowers and stuff.”



Dustin stopped and looked at her. “It’s so good to see you. I can’t believe I was so lucky to meet you, and now to be here with you.”

“I feel the same,” Lainey said. “Especially because I don’t know anyone here except you.”

“Lainey, I don’t want to scare you off by even saying it, but ever since I got here I’ve been thinking about . . .”

Dustin stopped himself. It would be too soon.




She looked at him curiously, waiting for him to continue.

“I’m just so glad to see you!” He said.



When they broke apart, Lainey said, “I have to go to class now, but maybe we can get together tonight. I want to hear about your family and everything.”

Dustin nodded and said, “The dorm is having a meet-and-greet dinner tonight, but we could go out after that.”

She smiled and his heart filled.

As they said goodbye, they didn’t notice that they were being observed.




Dustin was so happy that he went skipping into the dining room after Lainey left.




When the dinner began, Dustin was really happy to meet his new dorm-mates.



They all seemed nice, and Sam was interested in botany, too.





While Dustin was enjoying college, Carla was continuing her cow investigations in Pleasantview. As she approached the Picaso home, she heard Matthew yelling from inside. As she sprinted to the door, she was surprised to see that his alien baby was going to arrive right then! She also noticed the house was a mess as she approached Matthew in labor, and wrinkled her nose at the smell.







It was almost habit by now—she scanned the room for a cow and spotted it right away, then turned her attention to Matthew. She looked around for Jessica, but didn’t see her anywhere. She tried to ask Matthew, but he was too busy.





A wee green baby popped into his arms and Matthew was back in his regular clothes. Carla was going to ask him about Jessica then, but he suddenly handed the baby to her and began to yell again.







In a few short moments, ANOTHER baby was in his arms. Carla cradled hers gently and said, “Matthew, where’s Jessica? Did she already have her baby and go back to work?”

Matthew shook his head and said, “Not right now, Carla. Can you . . . can you just help me get these babies fed and in their cribs?”





They fed the twins and put them in the cribs upstairs, then returned down to the mess. Matthew suddenly grabbed his head and moaned.

Carla was startled and tried to get his attention, but he was inconsolable.





“Matthew!” she snapped, to shake him up. “Tell me what’s wrong!”

He finally composed himself and said sadly, “Jessica’s gone. We were stargazing last night and she wanted to use the big telescope and the aliens took her. And never brought her back.”

Carla was stunned. This was the THIRD person she’d heard of being taken from Pleasantview and never returned.

Matthew continued, “The kids don’t know yet. They were asleep, and now they’re at school. What am I going to tell them?”

Carla spoke soothingly to Matthew as she hugged him. “It’s okay—we’ll figure this out. Why don’t you go take a nap while I get this mess cleaned up? I’ll wake you when the kids get home.”




Matthew agreed and went to lie down as Carla began to tidy. Now she understood the mess—poor pregnant Matthew had been trying to take care of three kids by himself. For less than a day. Poor thing.




As she was finishing, the kids arrived home from school and Carla had them sit down together while she went to wake Matthew so they could tell them about what was happening and try to make a plan going forward.

When they were all assembled, she told the kids, “I’m Carla. You probably don’t remember me but I met all of you when you were just babies!”

She turned to Matthew and asked, “Do you want me to explain?”

Matthew nodded.





Carla, as gently as she could, told the children about how people were often abducted by aliens in Pleasantview, but were then usually returned a few hours later. “Many people,” she said, “like your Dad, even thought it was fun and did it more than once.”

Rigel and Vega said, “We know all that. Mom and Dad told us that’s how we got here.”

Carla nodded and continued, “The thing is . . . your Mom was taken last night but the aliens haven’t brought her back yet. We don’t know why.”


The alien kids jumped up as Pablo shouted, “When will she be back?”





Matthew spoke up then and said, “Soon, we think. It’s just a bit longer this time.” He looked at Carla worriedly. He didn’t want to scare the kids too much. “You have two new brothers upstairs—why don’t you go meet them?”


Carla sat down next to Matthew as the kids trooped up the stairs.

“Do you think it was wise to lie, Matthew?” she asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I just couldn’t stand them to be worried like me. Maybe it’s true. Maybe she’ll be back soon.”


“I hope so,” Carla said. “I hope so.”






Carla left the Picasos after phoning for a Nanny to come and help Matthew with the kids. She didn’t think she had the heart to continue on her cow search anymore. Matthew had told her that Jessica was pregnant when she was taken and Carla couldn’t imagine how awful that was. It would be bad enough for anyone she loved to be taken, but in that condition!

She wanted to talk to someone who was used to investigating. She stopped and phoned John Mole and asked if he could meet her at the park.

Carla sat on a bench after checking that there were no cows around and waited for John. She had an idea, but didn’t know how to proceed to confirm it.

When John arrived, she told him about all the cows she’d found in peoples’ houses, then said, “But listen John. I actually wanted to talk to you about something else.”







“There have been three alien abductions who weren’t returned to their homes, and all of them were young women. The last one was last night and she was pregnant. Do you think it’s possible the other two were pregnant as well? Could that be the reason they haven’t been returned?”


“Wow, I don’t know,” John said. “I’d heard about two abductions but hadn’t thought about that possibility. Your friend was definitely pregnant?”

Carla nodded. “But I don’t know how we’d find out if Dina and Bella were too. As far as I know, the families weren’t aware if they were pregnant.”






John sighed. “This town has a lot of issues. I’m not sure what the next step should be. Do you know any aliens?”

Carla told him about Johnny and that he’d said he’d have his father call if he knew anything.

“Well, all I can suggest is that you ask him if being pregnant might change something about abduction. And I’ll keep working on the cow thing. I don’t think we need to confirm any more homes with them—we’ve got proof of enough already. We need to find those transmitters.”

John stood and gave her a hug.

“I’ll get the equipment I need and try to find them,” he said. “In the meantime, you just keep taking notes and keep your eyes open.”